Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of fuel for ambulance service vehicles was, broken down by health board area, for the financial year 2000-01.

Susan Deacon: The cost of fuel for ambulance service vehicles across Scotland for the financial year 2000-01 was £3.38 million. The information is not collected by health board area.

Apprenticeships

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider enabling 16-year-olds to continue at school whilst taking up an apprenticeship.

Mr Jack McConnell: 16-year-olds are eligible for Modern Apprenticeships provided they are in employment and the training leads to a Scottish Vocational Qualification at level 3. There are currently no plans to extend Modern Apprenticeships to non-employment settings, including schools. However, there are vocational opportunities available to 16-year-olds in school including work placement and new National Qualifications.

Asylum Seekers

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made for school education of asylum seekers’ children aged 17 and 18.

Mr Jack McConnell: The school education needs of children of asylum seekers is a matter for consideration by the education authority for the area concerned.

Child Protection

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it specifies to which child protection measures funding should be directed and, if not, how the use of funding is monitored.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was allocated specifically to child protection measures in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000.

Nicol Stephen: Funding for child protection is part of the general budgets of the many agencies involved such as Social Work Departments, health boards and the police, who have discretion to determine their own spending priorities. Expenditure specific to child protection is not therefore separately identified or monitored.

Common Good Funds

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving to the possible return of the control of the Common Good funds to local community councils.

Peter Peacock: There are no plans to change the current arrangements.

Deafblind People

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve service provision for deafblind people.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15107 on 8 May 2001.

Doctors

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is to the NHS of junior doctors working beyond the 56-hour limit set out in the Working Time Directive.

Susan Deacon: Any increased costs associated with the new junior doctors’ contract reflect not just the numbers of junior doctors exceeding New Deal hours limits but also payments made in recognition of work intensity. It is not possible to calculate the cost of junior doctors working beyond hours limits alone.

  The new contract is intended to provide a strong financial incentive for NHS Trusts to reduce the hours worked by their doctors. Costs will reduce as trusts take action to achieve greater compliance with New Deal targets.

  Health boards were recently given their revenue allocations for 2001-02. The average increase in unified budgets is 6.5%. This is on top of significant increases in funding during 2000-01. It is the responsibility of health boards to determine local priorities for the use of funds including meeting the targets and standards of the New Deal for Junior Doctors.

Drug Misuse

Dr Winnie Ewing (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific steps have been taken to reduce the incidence of intravenous drug use in the Highlands and Islands.

Iain Gray: This is a matter for the relevant Drug Action Team (DAT) and its constituent agencies.

  I understand, however, that a number of measures are currently being developed by the team. A Prevalence and Risk Assessment Study on injecting drug users has recently been completed and will inform the future planning of services.

  The Executive has set a national target to reduce the proportion of drug misusers who inject by 20% by 2005 and DATs are required to set relevant local targets. We will be monitoring progress in meeting targets through annual DAT Corporate Action Plans. Plans for 2001-02 are currently in preparation.

Education

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new standard grade course in technological studies will proceed in the coming academic year and, if this matter is still under consideration, when a decision will be announced.

Mr Jack McConnell: SQA has developed new General and Credit Standard Grade courses in technological studies which will be available from session 2001-02. The Foundation level course will be discontinued and pupils directed into courses more appropriate for their needs. A letter was issued on 2 May to presenting centres informing them of these arrangements.

Elections

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies are taking place to assess the utility of online voting to rural communities.

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has done or intends to do to establish whether online voting would improve turnout at local elections.

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to run any experiments in online voting.

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has done on improving the security of online voting.

Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given S1W-14117 on 26 March 2001.

Electronics Industry

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many electronics businesses have closed in Scotland in each of the last three years and where these businesses were located.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive does not maintain a centrally held record of electronics businesses that have closed in Scotland. However, my department monitors Scottish Press stories of closures and the following information is derived from that source:

  


Year 
  

Company 
  

Location 
  



1998 (from April) 
  

Bourns Electronics 
  

Dalgety Bay 
  


 

Mitsubishi 
  

Haddington 
  


 

Shiva Corporation 
  

Edinburgh 
  


 

Tarka Controls Ltd 
  

Inverness 
  


 

Viasystems 
  

Galashiels 
  



1999 
  

Simple Technology 
  

East Kilbride 
  


 

Seagate Technology 
  

Livingston 
  


 

Viasystems 
  

Selkirk 
  


 

AMP 
  

Port Glasgow 
  


 

Lite-On 
  

Motherwell 
  


 

GEC Marconi 
  

Dunfermline 
  


 

APW Enclosure Systems 
  

Beith 
  


 

Mitsubishi 
  

Livingston 
  


 

PCI UK 
  

East Kilbride 
  



2000 
  

Seiko Instruments 
  

Livingston 
  


 

Canon 
  

Glenrothes 
  


 

Scotland Electronics 
  

Forres 
  


 

Seagate Technology 
  

Irvine 
  



2001 (to March) 
  

Alps Electric 
  

Arbroath

Electronics Industry

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many electronics businesses have opened in Scotland in each of the last three years and where these businesses are located.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive does not maintain comprehensive records on the number of electronics businesses opened in Scotland. However, the Executive is aware of the following:

  1998-99 - four opened and are located in Livingston, Irvine and Bathgate;

  1999-2000 - four opened and are located in Glasgow, Port Glasgow, Glenrothes and Clydebank.

Electronics Industry

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which electronics businesses it has given financial support to in each of the last three years and how much support each such business received.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The main form of financial assistance provided by the Executive to businesses investing in the Assisted Areas of Scotland is through Regional Selective Assistance (RSA). In addition, the SMART and SPUR schemes support small- and medium-sized businesses across Scotland to undertake research and development.

  Through these programmes, grants amounting to £20.8 million in the financial year 1998-99, £17.3 million in 1999-2000 and £30.7 million in 2000-01 were paid to companies in the electronics sector in Scotland. Of this total of £68.8 million, some 96% was paid out under the RSA scheme.

  It is not the department’s practice to list individual grant payments made to firms. However details of all offers of RSA involving grant over £75,000 are listed in the Office of National Statistics’ quarterly Labour Market Trends after the first payment of grant has been made. This publication is held in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Emergency Planning

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it plans to have with Scottish Borders Council arising from the recent failure by Scottish Power to maintain power supplies to the Borders area.

Ms Wendy Alexander: None. Scottish Borders Council initiated its local emergency plan and acted upon this in conjunction with Scottish Power, Lothian and Borders Police and other emergency services. Throughout the emergency, officials kept in close touch with Scottish Power and submitted regular reports to ministers to keep them apprised of the overall response to the emergency situation. It will be a matter for Scottish Borders Council to review their emergency planning arrangements to see what, if anything, might be improved.

Employment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it estimates there will be in call centres in each year until 2005.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive does not produce forecasts of the levels of employment by sector.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what regional selective assistance has been given to call centre employers on an annual basis since 1997 and what criteria and qualifications have been attached to any such assistance.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The following amounts of Regional Selective Assistance have been paid to call centre projects for the financial years noted below:

  


1997-98 
  

£1,150,000 
  



1998-99 
  

£9,932,000 
  



1999-2000 
  

£4,890,000 
  



2000-01 
  

£4,009,400 
  



  Grant offers to call centre projects are subject to the normal criteria of the Regional Selective Assistance grant scheme including location, investment, jobs, need, viability and private sector investment. However, grant offers in respect of call centre projects will typically require the assisted jobs to be maintained for longer periods than are specified for other types of projects assisted under the scheme.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a strategy to enhance the skills of call centre staff and what arrangements it has with call centre employers to improve the skills and knowledge of their staff.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The strategy for enterprise "A Smart Successful Scotland" places skills and learning at the heart of the activities of the Enterprise Networks. This strategic focus on raising skills levels and better matching skills and opportunities is relevant in all sectors and industries, including the call centre sector. Higher and further education institutions offer a wide range of learning opportunities and skills training designed to respond to current and future labour market needs.

  In addition, a number of further education colleges offer tailored call centre training and Local Enterprise Companies use a range of training providers to meet the training needs of call centre employers. This includes specialised training, such as voice coaching, and a professional development award for call centres and employability skills, such as confidence building, team working, and IT skills. Higher education institutions provide language courses and some provide tailored courses for business and industry supporting a wide range of skill requirements. This includes provision aimed at the call centre market linking language and IT training with customer care and technical telephone skills.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many call centres there were in each year since 1997.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The table below gives estimates of the number of call centres in Scotland each year since 1997.

  Call Centres in Scotland 1997-2000

  


Year 
  

Call Centres 
  

Employees 
  

Source 
  



1997 
  

119 
  

16,000 
  

Taylor & Bain, 1997 
  



1998 
  

159 
  

21,000 
  

Locate in Scotland 
  



1999 
  

170 
  

30,000 
  

Bain & Taylor, 1999 
  



2000 
  

220 
  

46,000 
  

Taylor & Bain, 2000 
  



  Source: Call Centre Association.

European Funding

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much EQUAL funding will be allocated to Scotland on an annual basis, in total and broken down by project.

Angus MacKay: The allocated resources available to support the EQUAL Community Initiative for the years 2001 to 2006 amount to €365 million (approximately £234 million) for Great Britain as a whole. A separate Scottish allocation amounting to €31,730 million (approximately £20 million) has been agreed for the seven thematic priorities which will be administered by the Scottish Executive as Managing Authority. Scottish organisations will also have access to the asylum seekers thematic priority, which will be administered at the UK level.

  It is not possible to identify the estimated annual expenditure, as expenditure will vary from year to year depending upon the nature of the activities to be supported.

  The detail of financial allocations to individual projects will depend upon the Development Partnerships which come forward in the call for applications which is expected to be issued in June 2001.

Ferry Services

Dr Winnie Ewing (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Caledonian MacBrayne and other ferry operators about extending ferry services within the islands and between the islands and the mainland.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Caledonian MacBrayne and other ferry operators at both official and ministerial level on a wide range of ferry issues.

Ferry Services

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to examine the options for restoring the livestock and transport ferry service from Invergordon to Kirkwall.

Sarah Boyack: The present operator decided to withdraw from this freight shipping route with effect from 30 April. The Scottish Executive has recognised the contribution of the route for the export of livestock from Orkney. £200,000 was allocated to the route under the Tariff Rebate Subsidy (TRS) scheme during 2000-01.

  The Executive confirmed in discussions with the operator and Orkney Islands Council before the service was withdrawn that a TRS allocation continued to be available for 2001-02, at the same assistance rate of 50% of shipping costs. This assistance will now be available to any alternative operator.

  The Executive continues to liase with the Islands Council and other operators about options for providing sufficient capacity for the export of livestock from Orkney on this or alternative routes.

Fire Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of fuel for fire service vehicles was, broken down by fire board, for the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Iain Gray: Information from fire authorities is as follows:

  


 


1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  



Central Scotland Fire Brigade 
  

£108,236 
  

£108,860 
  



Dumfries and Galloway Fire Brigade 
  

£35,264 
  

£39,642 
  



Fife Fire and Rescue Service 
  

£84,250 
  

£97,445 
  



Grampian Fire Brigade 
  

£120,534 
  

£121,493 
  



Highlands and Islands Fire Brigade 
  

£95,965 
  

£110,220 
  



Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade 
  

£214,551 
  

£251,555 
  



Strathclyde Fire Brigade 
  

£555,973 
  

£666,166 
  



Tayside Fire Brigade 
  

£110,129 
  

£130,425

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the remarks made by the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning on 28 March 2001 ( Official Report , col. 978) regarding refunds of area tourist board subscriptions, whether any such refunds have yet been made to businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: All ATBs have been provided with funding from VisitScotland specifically to reduce the subscription burden on their members. It is for individual ATBs to decide exactly how this is to be implemented, for example, by cash refund or future credit.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the group set up to examine the economic consequences of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak will report to the Parliament.

Ross Finnie: The Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Impact Assessment Group which I announced on 8 March is providing ongoing advice to the Ministerial Committee for Rural Development FMD Sub-Group. Expert organisations such as VisitScotland, the Enterprise Networks and the Scottish Agricultural College have been feeding in very useful information which have helped inform the Ministerial Group on FMD’s decisions on hardship relief and its thinking on recovery. To date much of that information has been qualitative and to provide more quantified information the group has recently commissioned a survey of over 2,000 businesses across Scotland to identify the outbreak’s impact. The survey results are currently being collated and the final report will be published on 29 June. Copies of the report will be available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Further Education

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why the grant-in-aid received by Inverness College for 2000-01 is less, in real terms, than that received in 1993-94.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive cannot provide explanations for decisions taken by previous administrations, and the responsibility of providing funding to individual further education colleges is now entirely a matter for the Scottish Further Education Funding Council. Last year the Scottish Executive announced substantially increased public funding for the FE sector, on top of the additional £214 million announced as part of the three-year Comprehensive Spending Review by the Secretary of State for Scotland in 1998.

Further Education

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will assist Inverness College to overcome a £5 million financial deficit in such a way as to retain staff and continue all courses offered.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Further Education Funding Council is responsible for funding Scotland’s further education colleges. The council has been monitoring closely the progress of the financial recovery plan implemented by the Board of Management of Inverness College to address the college’s financial deficit.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how will it end "postcode prescribing", given that local Drugs and Therapeutics Committees have autonomy in local health board decision making.

Susan Deacon: The Executive is working with Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees and with the Health Technology Board for Scotland to reduce variations in prescribing practice across Scotland.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the working group on needlestick injuries to report.

Susan Deacon: I launched the working group’s report Needlestick Injuries: Sharpen Your Awareness at the UNISON Scotland Conference on 6 April. The report is currently in the process of being printed and should be available shortly. The report will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre and on the www.scotland and www.SHOW websites.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost the NHSiS to introduce the use of retractable needles where appropriate.

Susan Deacon: The NHS Scotland uses around 10 million needles a year at a cost of £1.2 million. The individual cost of needles can vary widely from 2p for a replacement needle to over £50 for specialised needles. On average a normal needle costs about 12p and retractable needles 27 to 30p. I recently launched the Needlestick Injuries: Sharpen Your Awareness report at the UNISON Scotland Conference and announced that the Scottish Executive would issue guidelines to NHS Scotland on the implementation of the report and would provide £270,000 to support the report’s recommendations for the introduction of safer needles based on risk assessment.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Association of Medical Directors will receive terms and conditions of service for Medical Directors in order that their contracts of employment can be agreed with NHS Trusts.

Susan Deacon: Trust Medical Directors are currently employed on Trust terms and conditions of service. Discussions have been held with the Scottish Association of Medical Directors to bring Trust Medical Directors under ministerial direction similar to other executive directors and a letter about that issued on 4 May.

Higher Education

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the full-time student retention rate was for each institution of further or higher education in each of the past three years.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The annual Performance Indicators published by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre or on the council’s website, provide indicators of performance on retention and completion for each higher education institution in Scotland.

  In the Performance Indicators, projected learning outcomes for the higher education sector in Scotland for the two years for which figures are available show that:

  Extract from Table T5

  

 

Degree 
  

Transfer/other award 
  

Total 
  

Neither transfer nor other award 
  



1996-97 
  

73% 
  

9% 
  

82% 
  

17% 
  



1997-98 
  

75% 
  

8% 
  

83% 
  

16% 
  



  Information is not available for further education colleges.

Higher Education

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11388 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 18 December 2000, how much (a) tuition fee and (b) other income Scottish universities received in respect of each category of student in academic years (i) 1998-1999 and (ii) 1999-2000 and what percentage of the total income of all Scottish universities in each year each of these figures represents.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Information on the total income of institutions funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) is published by SHEFC annually and is available on the council’s website.

  The latest academic year for which figures are available is 1998-99 when a total income of £1,343 million was received by Scottish higher education institutions of which £243 million is recorded as coming from academic fees and support grants1.

  This information is not available by category of student.

  Notes:

  1. This is a single figure which includes all fee income, including short courses, self-financing full-cost courses funded by private/non-private sources and support grants in respect of all and only those students on courses for which fees are charged. It also includes income arising from courses provided for other bodies where the institution charges either a block fee to cover a specified number of students or a fee per individual student. Source of definition: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Hospitals

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13550 by Susan Deacon on 17 April 2001, what the estimated figure of 69,000 cases of hospital-acquired infection represents as a percentage of the total number of patients treated annually by the NHSiS.

Susan Deacon: The estimate referred to was prepared by a Scottish Office Health Department working group which reported in May 1999. Copies of the report, Hospital Acquired Infection – A Framework for a National System of Surveillance for the NHS in Scotland are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. The group assumed a prevalence rate of 9% in estimating the incidence of HAI among in-patients in Scottish hospitals, which it calculated to be approximately 69,000 case annually.

Hospitals

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS Hospital Trusts have infection control teams.

Susan Deacon: Infection control teams are in place in every NHS Trust in Scotland, including some in which teams are organised on a health board-wide basis to cover both acute and primary care settings in the area.

Hospitals

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended level of staffing is of the infection control team at Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Office Department of Health provided guidance to the NHS on infection control arrangements, policy and procedures in the Scottish Infection Manual (1998). The guidance does not make recommendations about the level of staffing required to undertake the tasks and responsibilities it sets out. It is for NHS Trusts to decide, working within the overall guidance, what level of staffing is appropriate for infection control work within their working area.

Hospitals

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are currently working in the infection control team at Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Susan Deacon: This is a matter for the Trust. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15463.

Housing

Dr Winnie Ewing (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public authority homes were constructed in (a) Highland Council area, (b) the Western Isles, (c) the Orkney islands, (d) Shetland Islands and (e) Scotland in each year since 1990.

Jackie Baillie: The table presents the number of new public authority dwellings completed annually since 1990-99 (latest available information), for each of the requested local authority areas and in the whole of Scotland, as reported to the Scottish Executive.

  


Public Authority 1 New Dwellings Completed: 
  1990 to 1999 
  



 


Local Authority Area 
  

 




Year/Quarter 
  

Highland 
  

Orkney 
  

Shetland 
  

Eilean Siar 
  

Scotland2




1990 
  

224 
  

42 
  

25 
  

2 
  

1,938 
  



1991 
  

177 
  

8 
  

63 
  

21 
  

1,732 
  



1992 
  

82 
  

5 
  

32 
  

2 
  

1,010 
  



1993 
  

134 
  

- 
  

16 
  

12 
  

958 
  



1994 
  

170 
  

- 
  

12 
  

2 
  

661 
  



1995 
  

88 
  

- 
  

- 
  

2 
  

1,161 
  



1996 
  

32 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

292 
  



1997 
  

42 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

177 
  



1998 
  

5 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

139 
  



1999 
  

12 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

81 
  



  Notes:

  1. Public Authority dwellings include all dwellings owned by local authorities, Scottish Homes and New Towns (when in existence). Scottish Homes stopped building dwellings in 1992, and all New Towns were wound up by the end of 1995. Figures from 1996 onwards, therefore, include additions to the local authority stock only.

  2. The Scotland total for 1999 excludes figures for one local authority (Dumfries and Galloway) that has not yet submitted a return.

  The table above presents the new dwellings constructed for the public sector stock only, as requested. However, further additions were made to the social rented stock by housing associations, which completed a total of 29,367 dwellings throughout Scotland during the period 1990 to 1999.

Inter-Governmental Conference

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12386 by Mr Jack McConnell on 6 March 2001, whether it will list the topics discussed between it and Her Majesty’s Government prior to the Inter-Governmental Conference in Nice or, if this information is confidential, whether it will set out the grounds under which disclosure would not be in the public interest under the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.

Mr Jack McConnell: Discussions between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government are normally conducted on a confidential basis. Part 2, section 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information exempts information whose disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Maternity Services

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide additional funding to support the recommendations in its report A Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland .

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive allocates substantial resources to the NHS throughout Scotland, with every health board receiving at least 5.5% more this year. The NHS locally is best placed to decide how to use these resources most effectively to support national priorities, including those set out in the framework, taking account of local circumstances.

Medical Training

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the expected increase is in students entering medical training in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2002-03 (c) 2003-04 and (d) 2004-05.

Susan Deacon: The Executive is committed to increasing the number of doctors in Scotland. We are examining the most effective way to achieve this, and increasing the student intake in Scotland is one of several options.

NHS Funding

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the NHSiS spend was as a percentage of Scottish Gross Domestic Product for the years 1995 to 2000.

Susan Deacon: The following table shows expenditure on the NHS in Scotland as a percentage of GDP for the period 1995 to 1999 – the latest year for which Scottish GDP data are available.

  


 


NHS Spend in Scotland as a % of Scottish 
  GDP 
  



1995 
  

6.4 
  



1996 
  

6.4 
  



1997 
  

6.5 
  



1998 
  

6.4 
  



1999 
  

6.7 
  



2000 
  

Not Available 
  



  Notes:

  1. NHS Spend in Scotland for each year reported above relates to the financial year. For example, the figure reported for 1995 relates to the financial accounting period from April 1 1995 to March 31 1996.

  2. International comparisons of ratios of public expenditure to GDP use data on GDP at market prices. No data on GDP at market prices are available for Scotland but, to enable broad comparisons with ratios that have been calculated for other countries, estimates based on GDP at market prices have been derived. The methodology used is consistent with Government Expenditure & Revenue in Scotland. This method implicitly assumes that the Scottish share of UK GDP at market prices (including North Sea oil output) is the same as the share of GDP at factor cost. Given the assumptions involved, the estimates should be treated with caution.

  3. Estimates for years after 1999 are not available. As the Scottish Executive does not produce forecasts of GDP growth, it is not possible to publish projections of ratios of public expenditure to GDP for the period after 1999.

  Over the period 1995 to 1999, expenditure on the NHS in Scotland as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product is estimated to have risen from 6.4% to 6.7%. This demonstrates the Scottish Executive’s commitment to substantial increases in health spending over the duration of this Parliament.

  As further tangible evidence of this, the health budget is increasing from £4.9 billion in 1999-2000 to £6.7 billion in 2003-04. This represents a major investment in the NHS in Scotland by the Executive.

NHS Waiting Times

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by health board area of current waiting times for (a) orthopaedic out-patient appointments and (b) orthopaedic surgery.

Susan Deacon: The median waiting times for a first out-patient orthopaedic appointment with a Consultant following a General Medical Practitioner referral, and for orthopaedic surgery, by health board of residence, for the year ending 31 December 2000, are provided in the table.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for a First Out-patient Orthopaedic Appointment1 with a Consultant Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, and for Orthopaedic Surgery2. Year Ending 31 December 2000p

  


Health Board 
  

Median Wait For First 
Out-patient Appointment1
(Days) 
  

Median Wait For Surgery2
(Days) 
  



Argyll & Clyde 
  

76 
  

85 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

75 
  

90 
  



Borders 
  

71 
  

71 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

79 
  

56 
  



Fife 
  

75 
  

112 
  



Forth Valley 
  

139 
  

114 
  



Grampian 
  

69 
  

52 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

100 
  

91 
  



Highland 
  

96 
  

68 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

117 
  

58 
  



Lothian 
  

87 
  

99 
  



Orkney 
  

45 
  

61 
  



Shetland 
  

57 
  

65 
  



Tayside 
  

60 
  

74 
  



Western Isles 
  

55 
  

23 
  



Scotland 
  

83 
  

76 
  



  p Provisional.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes patients with a Patient’s Charter guarantee exception code.

  2. Patients routinely admitted from the in-patient/day case waiting list.

NHS Waiting Times

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by health board area of current waiting times for hip replacement operations.

Susan Deacon: Information on the median waiting times for a total hip replacement, by health board area of residence, for the year ending 31 December 2000, is provided in the table.

  NHSScotland is performing more total hip replacement operations than ever before. Provisional figures show that in the year to 30 September 2000, 4,929 total hip replacement operations were undertaken, an increase of 287(6.2%) on the figure for the year ending 31 March 1997.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for Patients Admitted from the In-patient/Day Case Waiting List for Total Hip Replacement1 Operations, by Health Board Area of Residence: Year Ending 31 December 2000P

  


Health Board 
  

Median Wait (Days) 
  



Argyll & Clyde 
  

140 
  



Ayrshire & Arran 
  

142 
  



Borders 
  

159 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

208 
  



Fife 
  

189 
  



Forth Valley 
  

235 
  



Grampian 
  

93 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

230 
  



Highland 
  

133 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

102 
  



Lothian 
  

208 
  



Orkney 
  

56 
  



Shetland 
  

107 
  



Tayside 
  

118 
  



Western Isles 
  

43 
  



Scotland 
  

147 
  



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  P Provisional.

  Notes:

  1. Patients are defined using operation code taken from the Office of Population and Censuses and Surveys Classification of Surgical Operations and procedures 4th Revision (OPCS4). Hip Replacement (Total) has been defined using principal procedure code W37-W39.

NHS Waiting Times

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by health board area of current waiting times for knee replacement operations.

Susan Deacon: Information on the median waiting times for a primary total knee replacement, by health board area of residence, for the year ending 31 December 2000, is provided in the table.

  NHSScotland is performing more knee replacement operations than ever before. Provisional figures show that in the year ending 30 September 2000, 3,122 primary total knee replacement operations were undertaken, an increase of 505 (19.3%) on the figure for the year ending 31 March 1997.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for Patients Admitted from the In-patient/Day Case Waiting List for Primary Total Knee Replacement1 Operations, by Health Board Area of Residence: Year Ending 31 December 2000P

  


Health Board 
  

Median Wait (Days) 
  



Argyll & Clyde 
  

183 
  



Ayrshire & Arran 
  

148 
  



Borders 
  

173 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

233 
  



Fife 
  

175 
  



Forth Valley 
  

257 
  



Grampian 
  

109 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

236 
  



Highland 
  

149 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

129 
  



Lothian 
  

206 
  



Orkney 
  

47 
  



Shetland 
  

111 
  



Tayside 
  

136 
  



Western Isles 
  

21 
  



Scotland 
  

166 
  



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  P Provisional.

  Notes:

  1. Patients are defined using operation codes taken from the Office of Population and Censuses and Surveys Classification of Surgical Operations and Procedures 4th Revision (OPCS4). Primary Total Knee Replacement has been defined using principal procedure code W40-W42.

NHS Waiting Times

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current waiting time is for patients awaiting (a) coronary artery bypass grafts and (b) other cardiac surgery in each health board area.

Susan Deacon: The median waiting times for admission to hospital from the inpatient/day case waiting list for coronary artery bypass grafts and other cardiac surgery, in the year ending 31 December 2000, by health board of residence, are given in the table.

  Across Scotland, the median waiting time for coronary artery bypass grafts has reduced by 45 days (36%) and the median waiting time for other cardiac surgery has reduced by nine days (10%) compared with the position in the previous year.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for Hospital Admission from the In-patient/Day Case Waiting List for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts1 and Other Cardiac Surgery1: Year Ending 31 December 2000P

  


Health Board of Residence 
  

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts
Median Wait (Days) 
  

Other Cardiac Surgery
Median Wait (Days) 
  



Argyll & Clyde 
  

70 
  

61 
  



Ayrshire & Arran 
  

46 
  

39 
  



Borders 
  

80 
  

79 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

98 
  

84 
  



Fife 
  

104 
  

127 
  



Forth Valley 
  

56 
  

75 
  



Grampian 
  

39 
  

52 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

71 
  

60 
  



Highland 
  

85 
  

85 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

96 
  

77 
  



Lothian 
  

98 
  

95 
  



Orkney 
  

60 
  

47 
  



Shetland 
  

43 
  

34 
  



Tayside 
  

117 
  

144 
  



Western Isles 
  

82 
  

96 
  



Scotland 
  

79 
  

79 
  



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  P Provisional.

  Surgical Operations and Notes:

  1. Patients are defined using operation codes taken from the Office of Population and Censuses and Surveys Classification of Procedures 4th Revision (OPCS4). Coronary Artery Bypass Graft has been defined using principal procedure codes K40-K46; Other Cardiac Surgery has been defined using principal procedure codes K25-K35.

Parliamentary Questions

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why substantive answers have not yet been given to questions S1W-13111, S1W-13112 and S1W-13113, lodged on 6 February 2001.

Mr Jack McConnell: The above PQs were answered on 10 May 2001.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of fuel for police vehicles was, broken down by police force, for the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Mr Jim Wallace: The cost of fuel for police vehicles for each police force in 1999-2000 is shown in the following table. Figures for 2000-01 are not yet available.

  


Force 
  

1999-2000 
  



Central 
  

£280,580 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

£260,547 
  



Fife 
  

£334,836 
  



Grampian 
  

£511,891 
  



Lothian & Borders 
  

£801,331 
  



Northern 
  

£368,205 
  



Strathclyde 
  

£2,220,938 
  



Tayside 
  

£427,450

Public Transport

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each holder of a concessionary bus pass has to pay annually for this pass in each local authority area.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13568 on 9 March 2001.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of putting the trunk road unit contracts out to tender has been to date and what future costs are expected to be incurred, providing a breakdown of all relevant costs in each case.

Sarah Boyack: The costs incurred to the award of the contracts are:

  


Assigned internal costs 
  

£437,252 
  



Seconded engineering staff 
  

£342,384 
  



Review and Audit costs 
  

£134,613 
  



Total 
  

£914,249 
  



  The anticipated future annual costs relating to the supervision of the contracts are:

  


Assigned internal costs 
  

£1.160 million 
  



Seconded engineering staff 
  

£0.476 million 
  



Performance Audit Group 
  

£1.533 million 
  



Total 
  

£3.169 million 
  



  In each case the figures are inclusive of VAT which has been or will be due to be paid.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the standards of maintenance of trunk roads will change from 1 April 2001; if so, in what precise respects, and whether it will decline to award contracts to any private sector bidders for any trunk road unit contract unless it is satisfied that such bidders can provide, without a radio network, a service in winter emergency conditions which is fully comparable to the current service.

Sarah Boyack: The standards of maintenance contained within the new contracts are generally the same as specified in the existing contracts. In respect of the communications system specified in the contract, it is for the operators to examine carefully the technology they require to ensure safe communications across the unit. We are satisfied from the tender submissions that the contract specification will be met.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the trunk road unit contract tender documents specified the number of snow blowers and snow ploughs which the successful contractors would be required to maintain and whether, for each unit area, award of the contract to a private sector bidder will allow the number of such vehicles to be reduced.

Sarah Boyack: The tender documents did not specify the type and number of plant which contractors have to provide for winter maintenance. The contractors are bound to meet the specification for the level of service set out in the contract. The Executive required bidders to declare, as part of their tenders, the minimum plant which they proposed to provide, where the proposed depots would be situated and the details of proposed gritting routes so that an assessment could be made of whether the service level could be met. The contracts require the declared plant to be provided, but the provision of that plant does not absolve the companies from the requirement to meet the specification for service level and the resource level necessary to achieve the specification. Snow ploughs and blowers will be provided in each of the new units.

Rural Transport

Dr Winnie Ewing (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10953 by Sarah Boyack on 5 February 2000, when the allocation will be made from the Rural Transport Fund in respect of each of its three component parts and what amount will be allocated to the Rural Community Transport Scheme in 2001 and 2002.

Sarah Boyack: I announced details of the allocations from the increased Rural Transport Fund on 20 March. The allocations are broken down as follows:

  

 

2001-02
(£ million) 
  

2002-03
(£ million) 
  

2003-04
(£ million) 
  



Rural Public Passenger Transport 
  

4.300 
  

4.700 
  

5.100 
  



Rural Community Transport 
  

0.800 
  

0.900 
  

1.000 
  



Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme 
  

0.400 
  

0.400 
  

0.400 
  



Total 
  

5.500 
  

6.000 
  

6.500

Scottish Executive Staff

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14416 by Angus MacKay on 20 April 2001, which Scottish Executive, agency and associated department posts based in the South Lanarkshire Council area on 31 March 2000 were no longer based in that area on 31 March 2001.

Angus MacKay: The change in staff numbers relates to the Scottish Prison Service. I have asked the Chief Executive to respond. His response is as follows:

  The decline in staff numbers is due to the closure of HMP Dungavel.

Scottish Executive Staff

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14416 by Angus MacKay on 20 April 2001, which Scottish Executive, agency and associated department posts based in the North Lanarkshire Council area on 31 March 2000 were no longer based in that area on 31 March 2001.

Angus MacKay: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14450 on 6 April 2001.

Scottish Higher Education Funding Council

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) will report on the Teaching Funding and Research Policy and Funding reviews mentioned in the SHEFC’s April 2001 meeting report.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The consultation period for both these reviews concluded at the end of March. On the Teaching Review, it is expected that revised proposals will be put to the council for consideration in the autumn and for the Research Review, by the end of the year.

  I have asked the council to keep me in touch with developments prior to any final decisions being taken.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s definition is of a qualified marker.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s definition of a qualified marker is determined.

Mr Jack McConnell: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chair to reply to you.

Scottish-Nordic Council

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what other venues were considered for the Scottish-Nordic Council meeting and why they were not selected.

Angus MacKay: In summer 2000, Highlands & Island Enterprise recommended Skibo Castle as the venue for the conference. The conference rate negotiated was comparable with other venues when all costs were taken into account. Of the venues available, Skibo Castle best met the specifications required for a conference involving some 35 senior Nordic officials and 20 of their Scottish counterparts.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the money allocated to Social Inclusion Partnerships in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01 was actually spent.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive allocated £53.7 million to the 48 Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) and three New Life Urban Partnerships in 1999-2000. The grant claims are paid in arrears and claims for 1999-2000 are still being processed. We expect that expenditure by SIPs and New Life partnerships in 1999-2000 will total £49.4 million. Of the unspent amount, £1.5 million was carried forward to 2000-01.

  Allocations for 2000-01 totalled £57.9 million, including the amounts carried forward from 1999-2000. Until the financial year is complete, we will not know how much of this allocation has been spent.

Special Educational Needs

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12087 by Nicol Stephen on 4 January 2001, what progress has been made regarding the introduction in Scotland of provisions similar to those in clause 13 of the UK Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill.

Nicol Stephen: The provision referred to has now become Clause 14 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill. Clause 14 requires local education authorities and schools in England and Wales to plan, to increase participation in the curriculum and physical access to school premises and also to improve the delivery of information for disabled pupils.

  The Executive is considering a number of legislative and other routes to give effect to the new duty in Scotland.

Teacher Training

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications were received for teacher training courses in 1998, 1999 and 2000 for (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special educational needs teaching, broken down by institution.

Mr Jack McConnell: The report (Supply of Teachers, Vol. 1 – Jan 2001) details the background to the current position on the collection of information relevant to teacher supply and outlining planned improvements to current methods. Copies of this report have been made available to committee members and placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. no. 10751). The answer to your question for primary and secondary can be found at Annex C of the report.

  There is no initial teacher education qualification in special educational needs and therefore no applications. A qualification in teaching children with special educational needs is an extension of the professional development of a teacher and is undertaken as in-service training.

Telecommunications

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that planning regulations address the telecommunications needs of the 21st century.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive recognises the importance of the telecommunications sector to Scotland. As an example, the recent consultation package on "Planning and Radio Telecommunications", prompted by concerns about mobile phone masts, was drawn up in consultation with the telecommunications industry, among others. The revised planning controls for mobile phone masts should be in place by the middle of the year.

Telecommunications

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to amend the planning system to make it a requirement that fibre optic telecommunications are installed in new industrial parks and housing estates.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has no such plans. The proposed review of National Planning Policy Guideline 2 on Business and Industry will consider the planning implications for business and industry development of advances in information and communications technology.